Display apparatus



Nov. 22, 1960 v. L. WATKINS DISPLAY APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 9, 1959 ,1 Q N INVENTOR.

Warez L. Mme/N5 flrraelvsys.

Nov. 22, 1960 v. L. WATKINS DISPLAY APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 9. 1959 INVENTOR. crae L WfiT/d/A/S BY 4414, ,M/M/

' 1s and i9, and end walls 20 and 21.

United DISPLAY APEARATUS Victor L. Watkins, 5601 Kenwood Ave., Buena' Park, Calif.

Filed Feb. 9, 1959, Ser. No. 792,221

Claims. (Cl. 40-40631) This invention relates to display apparatus and more particularly to an apparatus for moving an object to be displayed in a predetermined path of travel.

The apparatus of this invention is especially well suited for displaying an advertisement as in a store window or on a counter of a store or other place of business. The apparatus may be advantageously employed in connection with a billboard to lend animation thereto. It may be adapted to serve as an amusement device or a toy.

It is an object of this invention to provide a display apparatus of the above mentioned character in which the object being displayed, as, for example, a sign, is

and reliable in operation.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will appear during the course of the following part of this specification, wherein the details of construction and mode of operation of a preferred embodiment are described with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a display apparatus of this invention;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal central vertical section through the apparatus;

Fig. 3 is a plan view taken along line 33 of Fig. 2; r Fig. 4 is a cross section taken along line 44 of Fig. 3;

, Figs. 5 and 6 are plan views corresponding to Fig. 3, but only of an end portion of the apparatus and showing the moving parts of the apparatus in different positions; and

, Fig. 7 is an enlarged cross section taken along line 7-7 of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawing in greater detail, a display apparatus of this invention is shown in a form thereof which is adapted for use in advertising as in a store window or upon a counter or shelf in a store or other place of business. The illustrated embodiment, as the same appears in Fig. 1 of the drawing, comprises an elongate hollow support 16, a cover shell 11, and a four-sided advertising sign 12, the sign being adapted to travel back and forth in the directions of arrows 13 and 14, respectively, over the top of the cover, and to rotate onits vertical axis, as will be explained hereinafter.

The support 16 comprises a bottom wall 17, side walls The end walls are Patent 0 ice rabb'eted at 22 along their upper inside corners to accommodate ends 24 and 25 of a top panel 26 for the support.

The illustrated top 26 is designed to rest upon the upper edges of the end and side walls of the support and is formed of a metal plate 28 and an upper layer 29 which may be of any suitable material, and preferably of plastic, wood, linoleum, and the like, for deadening noise which might otherwise result from movement of the sign over it. The layers 28 and 29 are laminated together as with screws 30 which also serve to secure Proximate one end of the top 26 is an electric motor 35 mounted to the underside of the top as with screws .36. Shaft 37 of the motor extends through an opening 38 in the top. A drive pulley 39 is fixed upon the upper end of the motor shaft. Near the other end of the top of the support 10 is an idler pulley 41 which is fixed upon a shaft 42. The shaft 42 extends through an opening 43 in the top. A bracket 44 is attached to the underside of the top, and it serves to mount the shaft 42. The shaft is movable to a limited extent toward and away from the end wall 20 of the support, and is urged in a direction toward the end wall 20 by a coil spring 45 around a pin 46 having an open head 47 through which the shaft 42 extends.

An endless belt 50 passes around the drive and idler pulleys. Such belt is preferably formed of conventional rubberized fabric, and, of course, may be a chain. The belt 50 has a detent in the form of a pin 51 which extends outwardly from the belt. As the belt is driven by pulley 39, the detent pin passes continuously along a first run of the belt, designated by arrow 52 in Figs. 5 and 6, then around the idler pulley, then along the second run of the belt designated by arrow 53 in Figs. 5 and 6 and then around the drive pulley.

The illustrated apparatus includes a truck 56, the frame 57 of which may be conveniently constructed to channel configuration to provide sides 58 and 59. There are four wheels 60 for the truck, these being rotatable on stub axles 61 extending out from the sides of the frame. The width of the truck is such that its wheels will be confined between the inner edges of the angle irons 31 and 32 which define a track-way 62 on the upper surface of the support top 26 along which the truck will travel. There are two pins 63 and 64 which extend downwardly from the truck frame, the pins being proximate and spaced inwardly from the sides of the frame, respectively.

It will be apparent that as the detent pin 51 of the belt travels from around first one and then the other of the pulleys, it will engage truck pin 63, as appears in Figs. 3 and 7, thereby to move the truck in the direction of arrow 14. When the truck has reached a position directly over the drive pulley 39, the detent pin 51, in its course of travel around the drive pulley, will become disengaged from the truck pin 63, whereupon the truck will remain still until the belt pin reaches the opposite side of the drive pulley. As appears best in Fig. 6, the belt pin 51 will then engage the other truck pin 64 to again move the truck, but in an opposite direction as is indicated by arrow 13 in Fig. 6, until the truck reaches a position directly over the idler pulley 41 where the belt pin becomes disengaged from one truck pin 64. After the belt p-in has traveled around the idler pulley, it again engages truck pin 63 to repeat movement of the truck in the direction of arrow 14.

Extending upwardly from the truck is a shaft or pole 67 for rotatably supporting the sign 12 upon the truck. The pole is secured to the top of the truck frame by means of a nut 68 on the underside of the truck frame and a plate 69 having a tapped bore 70 for screw-threaded engagement with the lower end of the pole. The sign Ratchet assembly 75 comprises four arms 78, 79, 80 V and 81 which extend radially outwardly fro-m the tube at 90 from each other. Arms 78 and 80 are opposite each other and each of these arms has an upwardly extending flange or lug 82 integral with one side edge thereof. The other pair of opposite arms, 79 and 81, have lugs 83 which extend downwardly from their respective arms. The ratchet assembly, being fixed with respect to the tube and the sign 12, will cause the sign to rotate 90 on the pole 67 when the ratchet assembly is rotated 90 at the end of each pass of the truck over the top of the support 10.

Extending downwardly from the nut 76 of the ratchet assembly are four legs 85, the lower ends of which rest upon the plate nut 69 on the upper surface of the truck frame. There are four dimples 86 formed in the upper surface of the plate 69 for accommodating the lower ends of the legs 85. As the ratchet assembly is caused to rotate on a vertical axis, the legs 85 will slide on the upper surface of the plate 69 until they reach the dimples 86, whereupon the legs will be caught by the dimples to hold the sign stationary with respect to the truck throughout one pass of the truck over the top of the support. The dimples are relatively shallow so that the legs will slide out from them easily when rotary movement is again imparted to the latch assembly for travel of the truck in its next pass over the support.

For imparting rotary movement to the sign, as it travels back and forth over the base support, there is a pin 90 which is secured to the side edge of the top 26 as with a bar 91 so that the pin 90 is spaced above the upper surface of the top 26 and extends inwardly from the side edge of the top. The level of pin 90 is such that all of the ratchet arms will pass over it, but one of the upwardly extending lugs 82 on ratchet arms 78 and 80 will engage the pin 9%] when the truck reaches the position shown in Fig. 5, approaching the drive pulley 39. As the truck continues to move in the direction of arrow 14 from the position thereof shown in Fig. 5, engagement of lug 82 of ratchet arm 78 with the stop pin 99 will cause the ratchet assembly to rotate clockwise, as viewed in Fig. 5, until the lug 82 clears the stop pin 90 in the position shown in Fig. 6. Such engagement of lug 82 with the pin 90 will cause a rotation of 90 of the ratchet assembly while passing by the pin. When the truck then begins its travel in an opposite direction, as from the position thereof shown in Fig. 6, the next arm 81 of the ratchet assembly will be extended toward the pin 90, but, as explained above, the lug 83 of arm 81 extends downwardly whereby it will clear the stop pin 90 in the pass of the truck by the stop pin in the direction of arrow 13.

Adjacent the opposite end of the belt and for the pass 53, there is another stop pin 94, corresponding to the stop pin 90, but spaced above the top surface of the support base by a distance slightly less than that for the stop pin 90, whereby the ratchet arms will pass over the pin 94, but the downwardly extending lugs 83 of arms 79 and 81 will engage the pin 94 to rotate the sign another 90 as the truck moves in a direction of arrow 14 from the idler pulley.

As thus described it will be apparent that a different side face of the sign 12 will be presented in the direction of one side of the apparatus upon each pass of the sign over the top of the support. The truck will move from over one pulley to over the other pulley with one side of the sign being presented in a given direction. When next the truck is driven back over the top of the support, another side of the sign will be presented to view. Thus, intermittent rotation of the sign will continue so long as the motor is energized to drive the belt.

A pennant 95 may be attached to the upper end of the pole 67 to add to the ornamentation of the sign. Inasmuch as the pole does not rotate, the pennant will remain stationary with respect to the sign.

The cover shell 11 serves merely for ornamental purposes and to hide the belt and truck from view, there being a longitudinally extending slot 97 formed in the top wall of the shell through which the pole of the sign extends to position the sign above the shell.

While the instant invention has been shown and described herein, in what is conceived to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is recognized that departures may be made therefrom within the scope of the invention, which is therefore not to be limited to the details disclosed herein, but is to be accorded the full scope of the claims.

What I claim is:

1. Apparatus for displaying an object, comprising a support having a top surface, a drive pulley at one end of the support, a second pulley at the other end of the support, the pulleys being disposed above said top surface, means for rotating the drive pulley, an endless belt passing over the pulleys to define a first run of the belt in one direction and a second run of the belt in an opposite direction, a carrier movable on said top surface over the belt back and forth from over one pulley to over the other pulley, a first catch member under the carrier and disposed in one side thereof, a second catch member under the carrier and disposed in the other side thereof, detent means on the belt for releasably engaging the catch members respectively, whereby when said detent means is disposed in one run of the belt it will engage the first catch member to move the carrier in one direction and when the detent means is disposed in the other run of the belt, it will engage the second catch member to move the carrier in an opposite direction, a ratchet assembly on the carrier for rotatably supporting the object to be displayed, and stop members on the support engageable with the ratchet assembly during predetermined phases in the movement of the carrier for rotating the ratchet assembly and the object to be displayed.

2. Apparatus for displaying an object, comprising a support having a top surface, a pair of spaced apart pulleys and a belt passing over the pulleys and disposed above the top surface, a carrier reciprocable on the top surface over the belt back and forth from over one pulley to over the other pulley, means for releasably engaging the belt and the carrier for moving the carrier when the belt is driven around the pulleys, a pole extending upwardly from the carrier, a ratchet assembly rotatable on the pole and resting on the carrier, the ratchet assembly being adapted to support the object to be displayed rotatably on the pole, the ratchet assembly comprising four arms extending radially outwardly from the pole at with respect to each other, a first stop member fixed with respect to the support and proximate one of the pulleys for releasable engagement by one of the arms when the carrier passes by the first stop member to rotate the ratchet assembly 90, and a second stop member fixed with respect to the support and proximate the other of the pulleys for releasable engagement by one of the arms when the carrier passes by the second stop member to rotate the ratchet assembly another 90 turn.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2 in which the ratchet assembly comprises a plurality of legs for supporting the ratchet assembly on the carrier, the legs being slidable on the carrier to allow rotation of the ratchet assembly on the carrier.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3 in which the carrier has a plurality of dimples formed in that surface 1 thereof on which the legs rest, the legs being engageable in the dimples to hold the ratchet assembly stationary References Cited in the file of this patent with respect to the carrier during predetermined phases in the movement of the carrier. UNITED STATES PATENTS 5. Apparatus according to claim 2 in which one set 2,728,153 Wise Dec. 27, 1955 of opposite arms of the ratchet assembly have flanges 5 2,810,975 Goehring Oct. 29, 1957 thereon extending downwardly for said engagement with one of said stop members, and the other set of opposite FOREIGN PATENTS arms of the ratchet assembly have flanges thereon extending upwardly for said engagement with the other of said 456174 Italy 1950 Stop members 10 636,047 Germany Sept. 10, 1936 

